


Not like this

by Spannah339



Series: Goodbyes [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 16:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11062572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spannah339/pseuds/Spannah339
Summary: The Doctor revists two of his companions, Ben Jackson and Polly Wright.





	Not like this

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, okay, out of order but MEH! XD The idea for this came to me a lot sooner than anything to do with Vicki.

Polly glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed, sinking deeper into the sofa she was sitting on. It was nearly 3am. She had dozed off about three hours ago, and Ben still wasn’t back.

  She stifled a yawn and pulled her dressing gown around her, asking herself why she hadn’t gone to bed yet. It would be the same as every night Ben had shore leave. He would stay out as late as he could, come home reeking of alcohol, and go straight to sleep. For the first time in their marriage she found herself looking forward to when he next left.

  She was just beginning to consider going to bed when she heard a strange sound, vaguely familiar – like from a dream of a dream. She sighed, pushing herself up out of the chair.  
  
   “You need to sleep, Pol,” she muttered to herself. “Ben can jolly well deal with himself.”

 She sighed, wrapping her dressing gown around her and moving towards the stairs. She wasn’t sure when Ben had started to change. He just had, slipping into the trap of alcohol and the like. She almost regretted not listening to her friends and going after a man from her own social circle. But when they were young they understood each other so much better. They had travelled together – or perhaps that was a dream. She couldn’t remember anymore.

   Stepping out into the hall, she paused. There was something outside – something that wasn’t there before. A dark shape, a large container of some kind. Frowning, she moved to the door, pushing the curtains aside and looking out. It shone slightly blue, and she suddenly saw it was a police box. She hadn’t seen one in years.

  An image flashed through her mind, an old man with white hair standing outside a police box. Then the old man was replaced by another, younger man wearing clothes that were rather too large for him.

   “Just a dream,” Polly muttered, yawning again. “I need to sleep more. Need to stop staying up.”

  But she wanted to know. Besides, how would a police box just end up on her doorstep? Suddenly she remembered the sound she had heard before, the sound she had just dismissed as a creation of her tired mind.

   Again, another memory – dream? came back to her. Stepping into a blue box with Ben, drawing a bewildered young man in a kilt inside.

  “Jamie,” she muttered. She had known a Scotsman before. She and Ben had travelled with him – right?

   It felt like another lifetime ago, like it had happened to another person. The day after she had met Ben, she remembered saying goodbye to the old man who had helped them with Wotan – the Doctor. Then Ben had left, his ship was leaving. But she had been sure they had travelled with the Doctor, explored thousands of worlds, landed on the moon.

  When Ben’s ship returned, she had met him and they began talking. But he didn’t seem to believe the grand adventures Polly remembered, only a few distant memories. Polly began to believe they were just dreams.

  But now – now with a police box appearing outside her door – now in the early morning with her mind addled with tiredness, she began to wonder if they really were dreams.

  Making up her mind, she pushed open the door and stepped out into the cold night air. Shivering, she made her way towards the box. It sat there, on the edge of the road. If Polly hadn’t known any better she would have sworn it belonged there.

  Hesitantly, she laid a hand on the side of the box. It hummed under her touch, warm and – alive?

  Polly sucked in a breath, more memories coming back to her. Daleks. Cybermen. Pirates. Macra. So many adventures and stories and they were real. Not just a dream.

   She took another shaky breath, her eyes filling with tears. She had begun to think she was mad, believing such strange things – who could go to another time – another planet? But now, there was proof.

   The door opened, sending a shaft of golden light onto the ground. Polly jumped back in surprise, her heart beating fast. Was it the Doctor?

   A man appeared in the doorway. He looked to be in his thirties, wearing a pinstriped shirt and a long coat. His hair seemed to defy gravity. A smile covered his face as he caught sight of her.

  “Polly!” he cried, stepping out of the box – the TARDIS, she could remember what it – she – was called now. “Hello, good to see you again! Just dropped in to see how you’re doing. Is Ben around?” He paused, taking in her dressing gown and the silent night. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

  Polly shook her head, still trying to get over her shock. Finally, she met his eyes. They were brown this time, old – so, so old. So full of pain. She wondered what had happened to give him such pain. But she knew it was him, despite a different body.

 “Doctor?” she asked, unable to stop a smile covering her face. “You’ve changed again.”  
   
  He nodded, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

  “Yup. Number of times now… oooh, maybe – eight.” He suddenly winced – as if in pain. Polly watched him worriedly.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “Yes. Well no. Not really. It’s going to happen again. I’m going to change again.” He met her eyes, his old, old, sad eyes showing a spark of fear. “I don’t want to change again.” He said quietly.

  Polly said nothing, unsure of what to say.

   “But that’s not what I’m here about!” he said, the fear almost vanishing from his eyes. Almost. “Just popped in to see how you were – how are you?”

   Fine. I’m fine. Ben’s out drinking again. Our marriage is failing. I actually want him to go to sea again. Not fine at all.  
  
  “We’re getting along well enough,” she hedged. She could tell he didn’t believe her. “How’s Jamie?” she added quickly to change the subject. It was the wrong thing to say. A mixture of emotional crossed the Doctor’s face, sadness, anger, grief, guilt. Only for a second.

  “He’s fine. Went back to his own time. Happy enough.”

Polly sighed and crossed her arm.

  “Why don’t we both stop lying to each other and say what’s wrong,” she suggested.

  The Doctor grinned sheepishly and looked up at the sky.

  “My people – they took his memories,” he said after a long pause. “I needed to ask them a favour. Human’s weren’t allowed on Gallifrey – that’s my planet – so they sent him and Zoe home. Stole their memories of me and of their adventures.”

  Turning back to Polly, he breathed deeply and smiled.  
  
  “But, they’re gone now – my people. Don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

  He tried to pass it off as a casual comment, like it didn’t matter. But Polly could tell he was hurting. Hurting so, so much.

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly. Poor Jamie, thrust back into that horrid war with no memories of who he had become. Poor Jamie, who she had felt was a younger brother to her. Had he even survived that bloodbath? She suddenly realised that he was dead now – that he had been dead for hundreds of years.

  “Now Polly,” the Doctor began softly.

Polly nodded, pulling her dressing gown around her.  
  
 “I know. My turn.” She sighed, staring at the ground. “It’s Ben. He’s just… he's changed. So much. He keeps drinking – it’s three ‘o’clock in the morning and he _still_ isn’t home.  I’m…” she trailed off, not sure if she wanted to voice her last thought. But this was the Doctor, she could trust him. “I’m beginning to lose hope in him.”

   A tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered the early years of their marriage. How happy they had been, young and carefree. How she had waited for him to come ashore, how they had spent so much time together. How they have _loved_ each other. Now…  
  
  She sniffed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. A hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up. The Doctor stood beside her, and suddenly she flung herself into his arms.  
   
  She would never have done that with the first Doctor – maybe the second (Jamie was usually the one hugging him) but this Doctor looked like he needed a hug. And she sure as hell needed one.

   He wrapped his arms around her and they stood that way for a long minute, Polly crying silently on his shoulder. He would understand – he knew her. He knew Ben. Maybe he could help.  
  
 Eventually, she pulled herself away from him and wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath.

 “Thank you,” she said. She had needed that – a shoulder to cry on. A friend.

  “I know Polly – I know how your story ends. And it doesn’t end like this.” He grimaced slightly. “I really shouldn’t tell you this, breaking the laws of time, but you get through this.”  
  
  “How do you know?” Polly asked, wiping away the last of her tears. Hope began to swell in her – maybe, just maybe – she and Ben might heal the marriage.

   He smiled and patted the TARDIS.

  “Time Lord. Time machine. Time travel,” he said with a faint grin. He suddenly began rummaging through his pockets before pulling out a slip of paper and a pencil. Quickly writing something down, he handed it to her. “They might be able to help. It won’t be easy – but you’re not the sort to give up.”  
  
  Polly took the paper and read the information on it. It was contact details for a certain Barbara and Ian Chesterton.

  “They used to travel with me as well. Just tell them you’re a friend of mine and they’ll help you.” He smiled, looking up at the stars again. “They’ll help you anyway – they’re that sort of people.”

  “Thank you, Doctor,” Polly said, clutching the paper to her chest. “But what about you?”

  There was a heavy silence, the Doctor still staring at the stars.

 “I go on,” he said at last. “Until my end, whenever that may be.” Finally, he looked back at her. “Until I die for good. Whenever that may be”

  “You never die, Doctor,” Polly said. He sighed, taking in a deep breath.  
  
 “Thank you, Polly.”

  He stepped back to the TARDIS pulling the door open.

  “Goodbye.”

  The sound came again, this time so much more real and with it came the hope for better days. Polly gripped the slip of paper to her chest and watched it leave.

  Almost as soon as it had vanished a figure came lurching up the street. Polly steeled herself, slipped the paper into her dressing gown pocket and crossed her arms.

 “This has to stop,” she said as Ben joined her. He shrugged, slinging an arm over her shoulder. His breath stank of alcohol. She pushed it off.

  “Come’on, Duchess,” he said. “Just let me have a bit of fun.”

  “No. Inside. Bed. Then tomorrow we’re calling some friends of the Doctor who can help us.”  
   
  “The Doctor?” Ben slurred and Polly dragged him upstairs. “But he’s not really. He’s just a – just a dream.”

  “No. He isn’t. Come on Ben. We’re stopping this nonsense.  I don’t want to want you at sea anymore.”  
  
  She pulled him upstairs and helped him to bed. The next morning, she let him sleep off his hangover while she called the Chestertons. They were happy to help, and excited to meet friends of the Doctor’s.

  In the TARDIS, the Doctor leaned over the console, breathing heavily. The regeneration was coming too fast. He needed more time. He took a deep breath, calming himself, and felt the TARDIS lend him her energy.

  “Thanks, old girl,” he said quietly, patting her consol.  Ben and Polly would do fine. With the help of Barbara and Ian they would heal their marriage and be very happy together. Eventually they would move to India and found an orphanage there. They would have one child, a daughter called Jaime. They would change the lives of so many young people.

  The TARDIS hummed and the Doctor smiled, moving about the console to the next stop.


End file.
